British-Iranian captives Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Iranian officials said Wednesday morning that Anusheh Ashuri had been released from custody. The news was later confirmed by Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s lawyer in Iran and Tulip Siddiq, his MP in the UK.
When asked by the Guardian for comment, there was no official confirmation from Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s family in the UK, but they said they knew things were headed in the right direction.
Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, who has faced several false allegations surrounding his release, has been cautious in his response, saying he will wait for official confirmation from the UK Foreign Office.
Iranian state media reported that Zaghari-Ratcliffe was handed over to a British team at Tehran’s international Imam Khomeini airport and would be leaving Iran on Wednesday. Ashuri’s condition was not immediately clear.
Boris Johnson, who was in the UAE on Tuesday, said talks about Zaghari-Ratcliffe were “moving forward” but “going to the wire”.
The apparent success would end the trial for Zaghari-Ratcliffe that began in 2016 when she was detained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps at Imam Khomeini airport after a holiday trip to Iran, where she took her daughter Gabriella to her Showed to parents.
There have been signs of progress in recent days in delicate talks between Britain and Iran. A glimmer of optimism for 43-year-old Zaghari-Ratcliffe came on Tuesday when Siddiq said his British passport had been returned.
Johnson confirmed that a British negotiating team was working to secure the release of dual nationals in Tehran.
Although the details of the talks are unclear, it is possible that they are linked to the £400m loan that Britain owed to Iran in the 1970s.
Iran’s Fars news agency said Iran had received $530m (£405m) for his release. “The $530m Iranian blocked asset has been frozen prior to his release. He was handed over to the British side at 2.15 pm local time. The process of his release is on,” the agency said.
The UK government accepts that it must pay a “legitimate debt” for an order for 1,500 Sardar tanks, which was not completed after the Shah was ousted and replaced by a revolutionary regime.
The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, told Sky News on Wednesday that it was “a priority to pay off Iran’s debt”. However, the government in Tehran is under strict sanctions, which has complicated efforts to repay the money.
Reddress, an anti-atrocity group campaigning to free Zaghari-Ratcliffe, said it congratulated the UK government for “finally negotiating his release”.
Its director, Rupert Schilbeck, said: “We are incredibly relieved that Nazanin will finally be reunited with her family in the UK after six years of horrific ordeal. Nazanin has endured unimaginable grief.
“Richard” [Ratcliffe] Fighting day and night to allow his wife to return to the UK, Redress is honored to support Nazanin in securing her freedom. Nazanin’s detention in Iran was always illegal and Iran’s treatment of her was tantamount to torture.
“In celebrating his release, we must not forget the deep and continuing injustice perpetrated by Iran. Iran’s systematic practice of taking foreign nationals hostage for diplomatic gains cannot be allowed to continue.”